your opinions, please, on proposed new PC set up

Having finally admitted that nine years is probably too long to keep a computer (despite having various bits and pieces bolted on or screwed up – in all senses of the phrase!), I now look to your advice and comments, so freely given in the past.
First, the requirement parameters: both my wife and I are in what kind people call the autumn of our lives and what unkind people call ….well, never mind! So we don’t really want to know about over-clocking, baud rates, signal attenuations, etc. etc. We do know that you probably can’t get owt for nowt and we realise that that we’ll probably want to extend ourselves technologically and practically.

Some gentle Microsoft Office work, music playing and recording, a good knowledge and use of Photoshop (I’ll be loading CS3 onto the new set up), some graphic design, DTP, photo files exchange, general surfing are typical examples of what we do now, whilst high-end games are definitely not! I have Parkinson’s, so I’ll probably have to dig out that ViaVoice program bought some time ago and never really used. This also precludes too much intricate "messing around inside", of course!

So now my thoughts on hardware: (these have mainly been taken from the suggested alternatives given by various “design your computer on line” sites, so there may be incompatibility problems, over- ,or under-specified items, plain un-necessary ones, or items I’ve not yet thought about. Don’t need a monitor or printer – just bought me a new Philips Brilliance 200WP and an Epson R800, which I’m very pleased with.

Total budget? I’d like a lot of change out of a thousand pounds or a lot of very good reasons why not! Although I'm based in UK, I'll not be averse to buying elsewhere if it's advantageous.
So - my suggested list:

Case: Thermaltake Mambo VC2000BNS; PSU: 600W
Asus P5N-E SLI (nForce 650i chipset, SLI, Firewire)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850
4096MB Corsair DDR II 667 Memory
500GB S-ATA2 3.0Gb/s
Floppy drive
20x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Lightscribe
Creative X-FI Xtreme 7.1 Music
nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB
Wireless 802.11G PCI card
PCI Digital TV Tuner Card
Logitech Wireless keyboard and laser mouse
Microsoft Windows Vista Business 32-bit
Thermaltake Golden Orb II

I’ll probably keep my old hard disk in a sleeve, to use as an external - once I’ve cleaned all the crud away. The list stems mainly from two computer builders who advertise fairly widely: Cube 24/7 {http://www.cube247.co.uk –their Zuben ST12 re-configured) and DinoPC http://www.dinopc.com , their Intel Core 2 Duo Premium PC - P1002. Their prices look good - does anybody know them?
Folks, many thanks for your time and your anticipated replies. Sorry to have gone on for so long and my apologies if I'm being just another boring old fart, but I’ll get really lonely without my computer during my insomniac hours!
Best regards to you all,
Lyndon

Hi Lyndon.

First, I think you are making a wise choice by going with an Intel CPU as that will certainly meets your needs in terms of performance, and these CPUs consume less power and generate less heat than competing CPUs.

I do have a couple comments.

• RAM - although, in theory, 32-bit operating systems can address 4Gb of RAM, in practice, they never do as they only can use 3 - 3.25Gb. There are many reasons for this, most are tied to hardware overhead. See here for a more detailed explanation. Suffice it to say, you can save some money without sacrificing performance if you go with 3Gb of RAM instead of 4Gb.
• Floppy Drive - for electing to include a floppy drive. So many times have folks (and PC makers) decided to save, what? A whole $6 by leaving out the floppy drive! This is a mistake. When you need a floppy, you need a floppy. They are great for diagnostics, testing RAM, adding 3rd party drivers, etc. The only word of caution I would add is, once your system is set up, go into the BIOS and remove the floppy from the boot order. This speeds up the boot process, but also prevents infestation from floppy bound malware (sneakernet - the first method of propagating malware was via floppies).
• Orb HSF - Most people are shocked to hear that they void the warranties on their retail version CPUs if they use ANY cooling device other than that supplied with the CPU!
  

  Intel CPU Warranty Information
  

  Intel warrants the Product (defined as the boxed Intel® processor and the accompanying thermal solution)… … if the Product is properly used and installed, for a period of three (3) years. This Limited Warranty does NOT cover:

  • damage to the Product due to external causes, including accident, problems with electrical power, abnormal electrical, mechanical or environmental conditions, usage not in accordance with product instructions, misuse, neglect, alteration, repair, improper installation, or improper testing; OR
  • any Product which has been modified or operated outside of Intel's publicly available specifications

  AMD is more straightforward on their AMD CPU Warranty Information page where it says (their bold) the following concerning their retail, Processor In A Box (PIB), versions of their CPUs:
  

  This Limited Warranty shall be null and void if the AMD microprocessor which is the subject of this Limited Warranty is used with any heatsink/fan other than the one provided herewith.

  The good news is since both AMD and Intel warranty their boxed CPUs for three years, and since replacing them at their cost is not something they want to do, both make excellent cooling solutions both in terms of cooling abilities, but also in noise levels. Since you have already stated you have no desire to overclock (another wise decision, IMO) and since you have elected to use the Intel CPU, which runs cooler than competing products and previous Intels, cooling should not be an issue.
• UPS - I strongly recommend you get an UPS with AVR (automatic voltage regulation) and use that instead of a surge and spike (S&S) protector.
  
  A surge protector is nothing more than a fancy, overpriced extension cord. Get an UPS with AVR (automatic voltage regulation). I normally recommend 900VA to 1100VA or greater for each PC. With one that size, you can easily protect your computer, two LCD monitors, and all your network equipment.
  
  Note that every time the air conditioner, microwave, toaster, hair dryer, electric clothes dryers, coffee pot, refrigerator, and/or any other high wattage appliance cycles on and off, they send high and low anomalies down the line. A S&S protector can only provide some limited protection from the high (over voltage) anomalies. Surges and spikes are ALWAYS followed by sags as the circuit stabilizes. Since the surge and spike protector (being a passive device) has no way to boost the voltage back up to the normal line voltage, this must be done by the voltage regulators in the PSU, and then in turn the regulators on the motherboard. Over time, this added stress and strain on the regulator circuits can and often does cause premature aging and failure of those critical components. And certainly, any time the anomaly causes the computer to reboot or shutdown, there's the risk of lost data, a corrupt hard drive, or worse!
  
  Do note that battery backup during a complete power outage is only the icing on the cake. The AVR is the primary advantage of an UPS w/AVR as that will protect your equipment from surges and spikes, but also from dropouts and sags - which no surge protector can do. And it will also provide clean power during extended surges, something surge protectors struggle with as well.
  
  Any computer located in the same facility as one of those high wattage appliances should be on an UPS. If you live in an apartment or multi-family dwelling, you need an UPS. If that looks like I am saying every computer should be on an UPS, good! That was the intent!
  
  The biggest downside - the batteries have to be replaced every 3 years or so - $50 - $100 if you do it yourself - pretty easy task, however.
  
  APC, CyberPower, Belkin, and TrippLite are good brands.
• Case - Although the TT Mambo is a good case, I prefer a case with a filter. My wife's PC has the Antec Sonata II and mine in the same office uses an older Antec without a filter. I have to clean the interior of my case at least 3-4 times more often than hers. Something to think about.
• Graphics card - you have selected an excellent card. However, I note that several card makers make nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB cards, and that's good. I recommend you ensure the card you select supports two DVI (or HDMI) connectors. Some only support 1 digital (DVI) plus 1 analog (D-Sub). You have not mentioned what monitor(s) you will be using but with the horsepower and quality of the components you have selected, any LCD monitor you may buy to use on this system should support a digital input for the best quality display. It will need a DVI connection on the graphics card for that. Should you decide to run in a dual monitor system, you will need both connections to support DVI to go full digital for the best quality display (as a quinquagenarian, I can attest that with eyes over 40 years old, fuzzy text don't cut it!). If you still use, or prefer CRT monitors, all DVI cards will support analog with an inexpensive, and usually supplied, adapter. Don't say you will never go dual-monitor. Once you try it, and get used to it, you will wonder how you ever lived without two monitors.

I agree with Digerati on the TT case, I have a TT Xaser III and the dust inside is appalling. I would also recommend a second HDD, with the low price of HDD's now it is worth having that backup space available.

Wow, some good thinking has gone into that! - many thanks, guys. a quick answer to your points - my nonitor is the Philips Brilliance 2ooWP, and I'm really looking forward to playing it on the DVI link. Points taken re case and UPS, although the 'psu' to which I referred is the power supply unit. A friend recommends the Asus Commando mobo, because it ccarries an Intel chipset, rather than the nVidia chipset. She says it will be a 'better match' with the E6850 CPU. First question - does that matter and second, what is the difference between a chipset and the CPU? (I know, I probably shouldn't be allowed out on my own!). And do I need SLI if we're not going to be playing games on the thing? Elsewhere the question of Vista v XP has been raised - is Vista still too young, XP being well established and supported for the foreseeable future? Is my idea of using my old HDD (80 GB) in a caddy a feasible one? Again, so many thanks to you Lyndon

A 600 PSU should be fine A UPS is a very good idea though for the reasons Digerati points out I suspect my recent HDD problems may have been caused by the regular powerouts we get SLI — well that really is a personal choice at this point — I wouldn't have thought you needed it, but others might differ As a personal preference I would go for XP as the OS. Vista is still too new for my comfort ( hell, I use W2K on my main PC I don't like change )

Points taken re case and UPS, although the 'psu' to which I referred is the power supply unit.

Not sure what you mean here. Yes, PSU does stand for power supply unit. UPS, on the other hand, stands for uninterruptible power supply - commonly (and inadequately) known as a battery backup.

SLI has nothing to do with games. SLI is nVidia's technology name for using 2 graphics card at once to combine their resources to make a more powerful graphics system - like parallel processing. ATI calls their method of using 2 ATI cards in a similar manner Crossfire. So, unless you plan to use two graphics cards (and the vast majority of people don't need 2), you don't need SLI - but if you motherboard supports it, no big deal if you don't enable it.

The chipset is basically a small computer in itself that runs and coordinates the communications between all the components on the motherboard. A CPU is totally dumb. It knows how to do virtually nothing until you boot your PC and the chipset reads the BIOS and instructs the system to find the boot sectors to program the CPU. And when you power off, the CPU forgets how to do everything again.

Since you are building a new PC with new components, I would get Vista. XP is ancient technology - why run it on modern hardware? Yes, there are still a few bugs, but that mostly affects people who upgraded hardware designed for XP and the hardware makers failed to make stable drivers - most bugs have been worked out. The security features alone in Vista make Vista the wise choice. XP was written when security was an afterthought. Thanks to badguys, security must never be an afterthought, but in the forefront - where Vista puts it.